With all of this talk about Google algorithm changes, content farms, spammy content, etc., the question comes to mind - what is the real problem with the internet today? Is it really as filled with spam as users believe? What caused the problem? And here's the most important question of them all - what is the solution?
For those of you who missed the sparring debate between Matt Cutts and Harry Shum, I saw and transcribed the first 14 minutes of the debate for your viewing pleasure. I haven't had time to transcribe the rest of the conversation, but there were a few accusations by Harry Shum from Bing later in the conversation that makes me think that Google Adsense publishers are going to get hammered with quality control, which in the end, will result in them not being paid and being dismissed from the Google AdSense network. Here's a link to the video in which Harry Shum presents the real problem of search spam. For your convenience, I've transcribed his comments below to the best of my ability - starting right at 15:00.
"Well I think Google, as our industry leader, and Matt in particular, should be very much responsible for so much spam that we've seen. I have read in Matt's two latest blogs, and I would say you have side stepped the big problem there. I'd say that's really the origin of the search spam content - why it actually appeared in the first place. There must be an economic incentive for those people to create this kind of shallow content - this barely mediocre content. Why did they do that? Google Ads."
Guys, make no mistake about it - Harry Shum is making the accusation that Google AdSense publishers have created the spam problem we are facing today. He is pointing out that most of the websites you see that bring back spammy results have Google Ads all over them, and since the spammers are making tons of money, they'll continue to thrive.
So what's the solution?
Well, here's what I think is going to happen first. Below, you'll see a screenshot of my Google AdSense account and the balance that is in the account. Google AdSense pays its publishers when they reach a $100 threshold, and I hit my $100 threshold around December 1st. If you read Google's payout statement, it says, "You are scheduled to be sent a payment within 30 days of the end of this month." The problem is that I was supposed to be paid January 1st - Google is 39 days late by their own standards. So what is happening? I think Google is going to manually review each website of mine that has earned money via Google AdSense, and if they don't find my websites to be high quality enough, they're going to dismiss me as an AdSense publisher and revoke any earnings I've had.
I think this is one place they're going to start tackling the web spam problem. Each time and advertiser is due to be paid, they'll manually review the website to see if its a spammy website which only exists to earn money from Google AdSense. Like Harry Shum so rightly stated, "There must be an economic incentive for those people to create this kind of shallow content."
He's right. And I think publishers are in for a huge wake up call. Remember, a Googler recently spoke about new changes coming to Google's algorithm soon!
For those of you who missed the sparring debate between Matt Cutts and Harry Shum, I saw and transcribed the first 14 minutes of the debate for your viewing pleasure. I haven't had time to transcribe the rest of the conversation, but there were a few accusations by Harry Shum from Bing later in the conversation that makes me think that Google Adsense publishers are going to get hammered with quality control, which in the end, will result in them not being paid and being dismissed from the Google AdSense network. Here's a link to the video in which Harry Shum presents the real problem of search spam. For your convenience, I've transcribed his comments below to the best of my ability - starting right at 15:00.
"Well I think Google, as our industry leader, and Matt in particular, should be very much responsible for so much spam that we've seen. I have read in Matt's two latest blogs, and I would say you have side stepped the big problem there. I'd say that's really the origin of the search spam content - why it actually appeared in the first place. There must be an economic incentive for those people to create this kind of shallow content - this barely mediocre content. Why did they do that? Google Ads."
Guys, make no mistake about it - Harry Shum is making the accusation that Google AdSense publishers have created the spam problem we are facing today. He is pointing out that most of the websites you see that bring back spammy results have Google Ads all over them, and since the spammers are making tons of money, they'll continue to thrive.
So what's the solution?
Well, here's what I think is going to happen first. Below, you'll see a screenshot of my Google AdSense account and the balance that is in the account. Google AdSense pays its publishers when they reach a $100 threshold, and I hit my $100 threshold around December 1st. If you read Google's payout statement, it says, "You are scheduled to be sent a payment within 30 days of the end of this month." The problem is that I was supposed to be paid January 1st - Google is 39 days late by their own standards. So what is happening? I think Google is going to manually review each website of mine that has earned money via Google AdSense, and if they don't find my websites to be high quality enough, they're going to dismiss me as an AdSense publisher and revoke any earnings I've had.
I think this is one place they're going to start tackling the web spam problem. Each time and advertiser is due to be paid, they'll manually review the website to see if its a spammy website which only exists to earn money from Google AdSense. Like Harry Shum so rightly stated, "There must be an economic incentive for those people to create this kind of shallow content."
He's right. And I think publishers are in for a huge wake up call. Remember, a Googler recently spoke about new changes coming to Google's algorithm soon!
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